Our Unwritten Story
by ScritchScratch13
Summary: He was blinded by ambition. To blind to see what was right beside him. This will be a fic centered around and related to a plot, but the chapters will be drabble like. Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even my own apartment. The characters are Kubo's.
1. Endings

Things weren't supposed to end this way. They just weren't. He knew, Kurosaki Ichigo knew how things were supposed to end; after all, he was the head of Kurohime Publishing, the biggest publishing house in Tokyo. But seriously, who was he kidding? He hadn't even realized that throughout all those years, they had been writing their own story, but maybe that was the problem. He was an idiot. He really and truly was.

A blur of orange.

A loud thump.

Kurosaki Ichigo's mop of unruly orange hair came crashing down onto his mahogany desk, quickly followed by his clenched fist. He was stirred from his self-pity when he heard the turn of the doorknob to his office. An anguished sigh escaped his lips before he looked up to glare at the petite figure leaning against the closed door.

"You know, this is all your fault" he huffed out. She gazed at him silently for a moment before narrowing her deep violet eyes. Her piercing gaze bore holes into his already shattered soul. "It's your fault. It's your fault she left." Her lips quirked into a smirk. She raised a single eyebrow against his accusation.

"No, it's not. It's yours. And also, you're an idiot." He groaned loudly before letting his head fall to his desk once again.

"I know. I know, Rukia Believe me, I know. But what do I do now?" He raised his head pathetically and reached out for the photo framed on his desk. She was there. She was right there in that framed photo, her long auburn tresses, her deep expressive gray eyes, and her brilliant smile. They were there together. In fact, she wasn't even smiling at the camera, but she was smiling up at him. His tall frame stood protectively behind her small curvaceous body, left hand placed lightly on her shoulder while his right rubbed the back of his neck. His unruly hair was shorter then, standing up in all directions as if to defy the laws of physics. But despite his messy hair, he was grinning down at her, greeting her smile all the same. It was she who had chose this photo and placed it on his desk. She said it had captured their "essence" and he agreed.

Rukia walked tentatively over and peered at the photo from behind his chair. "It's a great photo" she whispered.

"No." he murmured. "It's more than that. It's our 'essence'. It's us together. Rukia, there isn't suppose to be an end. We were supposed to be together, always." he paused an inhaled deeply oblivious to her small smirk of triumph. Was the idiot finally realizing his mistakes? Was he finally realizing his feelings?

"Together." he whispered through clenched teeth. "Don't partners stay together?" Her eyes twitched in annoyance as he began to raise his voice. "Aren't friends supposed to stick together？ Weren't we best friends? We built this publishing company together. How could she leave this? How could she leave me? I don't understand!"

Rukia had had enough. Her tiny fist collided with the back of his head sending it flying into the desk once again. "You fool! Is that what your 'essence' is? Is that all you see? His head rose from the table. He stood abruptly, anger emanating from every pore of his body. But Kuchiki Rukia was not one to be easily intimidated.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" he roared.

"No, what the hell are YOU talking about? Partners? Tch. Don't make me laugh." She glared up at him and did not miss the look of hurt that passed through his eyes.

"What do you mean?" The words passed from his full lips as a hollowed whisper. She sighed as she watched his strong, broad shoulders and dark chocolate eyes lower in defeat.

"Ichigo!" He looked up in surprise as she gently called his name. "You and I are partners. She, she was not your partner. Look at that picture again." His eyes softened as he silently gazed at his treasured photo. "Look closely at the two of you. Last month, while I was in the hospital, you told me that I had stopped the rain. But can't you see? She is your sunshine! She is the one that can bring a smile to your face. You idiot! You two were more than partners, more than friends. Ichigo, you love her," his eyes widened as the meaning of her words began to sink in. "And anyone with eyes could see that she was madly…"

"Shut up!" His glare was back and fiercer than ever. All his inner anger and betrayal was channeled through his heated gaze and Rukia felt a shiver run down her spine." If she l… if she lo… if she felt anything, then why did she leave This? Why did she leave Me?"

"Your ambition, Ichigo, you were always looking forward, at the things ahead of you, but never at what was right beside you. You were ignorant of it all, and now, its gone. Do you see it? Do you see it now, Ichigo?" His body slumped back into his chair and she looked upon his defeated form with sympathy.

"Rukia, you should leave." Her body took an involuntary step backward at his harsh tone.

"Wh...what?" She willed herself to reach out and touch him, comfort him, but he jerked away.

"Now! Please," His voice changed suddenly. It was hoarse. It was pleading. "I think I need to be alone."

"Okay…" Resigned to give him the space he needed, Rukia headed towards the door, turning back to spare one last glance at her grieving friend. She opened her mouth again, but closed it again in hesitation. Maybe this wasn't the right time, but she gave her word that after 2 weeks of putting it off, she would finally tell him. She took a deep breath before calling out to him. "Ichigo…" She continued only after she saw him nod in response. "Ichigo… I… that is, Renji and I. We are getting married in three months and we were hoping if you would be the best man. I know it's sudden, and not the best time, but please, just think about it, okay?" She turned the knob to his office door and walked out quickly whispering an apology as she exited the room.

As he heard the door shut, he let his head sink back to his desk, cradled between his well toned arms. 'They are getting married huh? Well that's great!' he thought to himself. Childhood friends finally tying the knot, the typical happy ending to the hundreds of cliché romance novels passing through his office. Renji and Rukia, they deserved their happy ending, but where was his. In truth, he didn't think he deserved a happy ending. In fact, he didn't want a happy ending. He was really selfish. He thought things could go on as they were. In truth, he didn't want an ending; he wanted to spend forever with Inoue Orihime, forever writing their story. But somehow, he turned into the fool of this unwritten tragedy.


	2. Beginnings

Once again. I don't own anything. *Sadness*

She stumbled out of the club's now open door, steam rising as the hot air of hundreds of bodies met the frosty air of the cold winter night. For a moment, Inoue Orihime stood frozen, greedily taking in deep breaths of the cool fresh air. She enjoyed adventure as much as the next girl, but no love of new experiences could have prepared her for her first real club outing. It was true that the dim setting, flashing lights and blaring music had been disorienting at first, but overall, she had been impressed. It was everything she imagined the mother ship of the little blue men to be, and she had been enjoying the atmosphere until the swarms of sleazy drunken men began to notice her. At first, she had accepted their invitations to dance thinking that it would be a good opportunity to make friends, but she quickly realized that one, these men wanted to be her "friend", and two, her definition of dance was not shared by the majority of her fellow club goers. Her definition of dance involved feet, rhythm and harmony. Their definition had not been suitable for children's eyes to say the least.

She had quickly grown tired of warding off the wandering and unwanted hands and had felt a growing discomfort at the many leering eyes following her every movement. She started to wonder how she had come to be at the club in the first place when she remembered her lesbian classmate Chizuru. Chizuru had convinced her that there would be nothing in the world more fun than dancing the night away, but took off after a well-endowed blonde in a flaming red dress shortly after entering the club, leaving Orihime to fend for had managed to politely disengage herself from the overly "friendly" men and had tried to make her way through the dance floor and towards the bar where she had last seen her friend. However, 'Clumsiness' just happened to be Orihime's middle name and making her away across the dance floor proved to be more difficult than she imagined.

She had first crashed into the back of a giant of a man, with a tall, muscular frame and a mop of curly brown hair. If she remembered correctly, he had worn a Hawaiian print shirt and khaki pants. Her reaction had not been entirely graceful upon meeting him. In fact, her mouth had fallen open in amazement because not only had she been able to see the inside of an alien spaceship, but she had met her first mecha and he was she had to add, very well dressed. When he turned to look at her, she began to shout out apologies over the blaring music. He stared at her curiously and had tried to give her a response, but it was so soft and gentle she couldn't make out his meaning over the loud music. She shot him a bewildered look and he had paused mid sentence, closed his mouth and smiled gently before giving her two gigantic thumbs up. She beamed back at him, returning the thumbs up before continuing on her way.

Her second mishap occurred as she was throwing a glance back at the friendly giant. As she was glancing back, she bumped into a tall red headed man whose hairstyle reminded her of a pineapple. When she had knocked into him, the force had caused him to pour his open drink onto the dress of the woman who seemed to be his date. Orihime immediately began to apologize for her clumsiness when the infuriated woman with pigtails raised a hand to slap her. Her eyes quickly fell shut and her body tensed awaiting a blow that never came. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she opened her eyes and realized the woman's hand had been caught and held by a big, strong, masculine hand. She looked up to face her savior and mumbled a "thank you pineapple-san" and an "I really am sorry for the dress". He grinned in response, nodding in farewell before engaging in argument with the furious woman.

Her guilt had been short lived and quickly replaced by panic when a greasy looking man placed his hands on her hips and pulled her into him. She shoved into him bumping into another man whose bored emerald eyes bore into hers before he called her trash before his friend with the electric blue hair pulled him over to the DJ. She finally made it over to the bar only to discover Chizuru was disgustingly drunk. She had managed to convince her that it was time to leave, but the poor girl couldn't stand alone and stumbled into Orihime's open arms knocking the red head off balance. Luckily steady hands caught her by the hips and a warm voice offered assistance. Trying to balance her wasted friend, she did not have the opportunity to look at the warm chocolate eyes boring into her back, but she shouted a warm thank you before refusing the man's assistance unwilling to burden him with a responsibility she considered hers. Without looking back she steadily made her way towards the exit.

After her first few breaths of fresh air, Orihime shifted Chizuru weight against her shoulder before reaching down to pull at the hem of her royal blue mini-dress. It had actually belonged to Tatsuki, but Tatsuki was more than willing to lend her the dress along with her black leather jacket, encouraging Orihime to 'knock them all out and bring home a winner', but in the frigid air, Orihime was just wishing she had worn something that showed less skin.

She moved away from the door, dragging away Chizuru's stumbling form before stopping and waving a happy farewell to "bouncer-san". He had been very kind, letting them in when they were underage. He even had a nose bleed from the guilt and she felt it rude if she did not acknowledge his kindness with a simple farewell on her way out. Chizuru and Orihime made their way towards their University at a slow steady pace, and they were just a few blocks away when Chizuru spoke. "Hime… I think we need to stop."

"What's wrong Chizuru-chan? Are you feeling okay?"

"No, I think I need to-"the gagging sound escaping from Chizuru's mouth was enough to alert Orihime of Chizuru's intentions and unwilling to allow her friend to vomit in the middle of the street, Orihime dragged her towards the opening of an alley. Orihime helped Chizuru bend over and patted her back comfortingly as the girl hurled the contents of her stomach. She did not notice they had been followed into the alley until she heard them speak.

"My, my, my, what is it that we have here Yammy? Two pretty little pets." Orihime felt a shiver down her spine and she steeled herself, lifting her head and preparing to defend herself and her friend. However, she was shocked when she realized she recognized the man. He was the sleazy greasy looking man from the club, the one that pulled her flush against his body. No outside the club, his figure was clearer to her. He was tall and lanky with slick black hair, and she couldn't help but notice the number 5 tattooed onto his tongue. Her mind was racing. With everything Tatsuki had taught her, she was sure she could take this man down if needed, but he was not alone. Beside him stood a giant of a man, but he did not look as friendly as her 'mecha' from the club.

"You were right, she sure is hot. I'm sure we can definitely have some fun."

"Of course I am right Yammy." The greasy man moved forward and grabbed at her wrist. "This is going to be a lot of fun" he continued. She tried to jerk away, but with the weight of Chizuru against her shoulder, she couldn't gather enough strength, couldn't shift into the proper position. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized that although Tatsuki had taught her a lot, she would not be able to defend herself against two men with the weight of her inebriated friend against her. But she also couldn't just abandon Chizuru.

"Please, let us go, you don't have to do this." Her voice, though soft, came out firm, and she was proud that she could at least keep her fear from showing. This man looked like he enjoyed other's fear.

"Well why would we ever let you go, Pretty? We just want to get to know you better, that's all." He jerked Orihime away from Chizuru and pushed her towards his accomplice. Yammy easily caught her and held her tightly against his body. She watched as the man with the number 5 tattoo wrapped an arm around her friend's waist and another right below her chest. She heard Chizuru grumble in protest and watched her begin struggling weakly. Orihime began to struggle herself.

"Stop it. Let her go! Stop! You can't do this!" Orihime struggled against the man's tight grip, but to no avail." Please! Let her go!"

"Yammy would you shut her up already" the tattooed man ordered in annoyance.

"Please-" she yelled out with all her strength. "Someone, help us!" she managed to shout out before a rough hand was placed over her mouth. She was beginning to give up hope when she heard a gruff voice at the entrance of the alley.

"I think you should let her go." The voice was familiar, but when Yammy spun the both of them around to face the owner of the voice, she did not recognize him. The first thing she noticed was his bright orange hair. Then, she met his gaze. His eyes were a chocolate brown, and she could see the anger burning behind them. His tall lean frame was set in a fighting stance and before she knew it the man was before her with a raised fist that he brought down so quickly, she could hear the crunch of her captor's jaw. Suddenly, the grip around her loosened, and she took the chance to free herself and sprint towards her friend. She watched as the man with the tattoo's eyes widened, as he pushed Chizuru away from him and into the alley floor. She heard a crash behind her and she prayed the man with the orange hair was okay.

She raced to Chizuru's side, but felt the tattoo man grab her shoulder. She reacted quickly. She grabbed the man by his arm, shifted her stance and weight, and sent him flying into the alley wall with another loud crash. She didn't want anyone to get hurt, but more than peace, she wanted to protect her friend. Orihime reached Chizuru's side and quickly pulled her up into a sitting position before glancing back at the man with the tattoo. He seemed to be getting up, but he was quickly knocked down again. The man with the orange hair had suddenly appeared, and it seemed he packed quite the punch. Orihime glanced down at her friend before opening her mouth to speak. "Chizuru-chan are you okay?"

"Hime-" her voice was low and shaky, but she managed a smile. "You are my princess charming. You really know how to rescue a damsel in distress." Orihime sent a strained smile back at her before looking back up to assess the situation. To her surprise, the orange hair man was approaching, but the other two men were no where to be seen. Orihime glanced back down at her friend, only to discover that she had passed out. The man knelt beside her and she felt his burning gaze on her.

"Are you alright?" he breathed out. His voice was so warm, so strong. It soothed her. She closed her eyes and let out an exhausted sigh before looking up to meet his chocolate gaze. Her breath hitched. His eyes narrowed in what she thought to be concern. She needed to get a grip, but her heart started racing when the second she met his gaze. She took in a deep breath.

"Yes. I am okay. We are okay. Thank you Stranger-san." her voice fell to a whisper as she dropped her gaze. "Thank you so much!" She was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to sleep. She shifted, pulling Chizuru's arm over her shoulder and began to stand up. She heard the man sigh loudly. Suddenly, she felt the absence of weight on her shoulder. She looked up at him in confusion. He had taken Chizuru's other arm and placed it over his shoulder. He began walking and she struggled to keep up with his long strides.

"Here, let me help you." he offered. She blushed furiously in embarrassment trying to shift more weight onto her own shoulder.

"Please stranger-san. I don't want to burden you." He stopped.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Eh?" She looked up in confusion.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, not stranger-san. Where are we headed?" She lowered her head and her blushed deepened.

"Kurosaki-san. I'm really sorry. I don't want to burden you. Please, I can take Chizuru-chan home." She heard him scoff.

"You were just attacked. I think it would be better if I walked you home." She thought back to her struggle with the two men. She thought back to the fear she felt when she realized that she could not support her friend and defend her at the same time. She gave a sigh of resignation.

"Thank you Kurosaki-san." she murmured. Suddenly, she beamed up at him and although he was shocked, he felt the corners of his lips twitch up into a small smile. They began walking again.

"So, where are we going?" She lowered her head and watched him from the corner of her eyes.

"The women's dorm at Tokyo University. We…we go to school there." He nodded his head in understanding and then opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm also a student there. A freshman. I start classes this week." Her voice rose in excitement.

"Really, so are we. We are really excited to be starting classes. Actually we are excited to be starting college life in general. Chizuru and I are highschool friends. Oh and there is also Ishida-kun and Tatsuki-chan. Tatsuki-chan is amazing. She is my best friend and protects me from all kinds of things, though she isn't able to protect me from the little blue men. I think she can't because she doesn't believe in them, and you can't fight what you don't believe. But I know, and Tatsuki-chan taught me to defend myself, and so even though they occasionally mess with my brain and cause me to crash into all sorts of things, for the most part I am safe. Because Tatsuki-chan taught me well." She lifted her head and smiled at him brightly. Upon meeting her gaze, he remembered to close his hanging mouth.

"Um yes.. that is, I ..see. So that's how you were able to flip that piece of shit over your shoulder. Your friend taught you karate. That was really impressive…um… miss" Her face turned crimson.

"Oh. My name is Inoue Orihime." she suddenly bowed very low and he struggled to keep her friend balanced at the sudden shift in weight. "It is nice to meet you and thank you for saving us Kurosaki-san." His face suddenly flushed red and he turned away from her gaze. They fell into silence as they walked the last few blocks to the campus. She stole hidden glances at him and discovered that although his face was set in a deep scowl, he was extremely handsome. Actually, she liked his scowl. It was kind of funny, and in her opinion, something worthy of 'Laugh Hour'.

They reached the female dormitory and he held Chizuru awkwardly as she fished out her key and opened the door. He walked them up the three flights of stairs to their dorm room and helped her see Chizuru inside. Then he walked her to her door. They stood their awkwardly for a few moments. She wanted to ask his number, ask him what classes he was taking, and ask him if they could meet again. Although she barely knew him, she had grown strangely attached to him. She reasoned it was because he saved her life, but somehow, that didn't sound right. He cleared his throat and she looked up into his warm brown eyes.

"You should get to bed." She nodded lowering her gaze.

"Yes. Thank you, Kurosaki-san. Thank you for everything."

"Don't mention it. And Inoue, Kurosaki-san is my father." She bit her bottom lip.

"Ah. I see. Well then, hope to see you soon Kurosaki-kun" She peered up at him through long eyelashes, expression hopeful.

"Yea, see you, Inoue." She met his smirk with her own small smile and turned to open her door, taking a step in.

"Good night Kurosaki-san"

"Good night, Inoue. Sweet dreams." With that he turned to leave and she closed the door behind him. She sighed deeply closing her eyes and leaning her head against the door. After a few moments, she turned away from the door with every intention of heading to bed, when her eyes met the knowing eyes and smirk of her best friend.

"Tatsuki-chan. You, you are still awake?" She cringed. Her question sounded more like an accusation than a question even to her own ears.

"Of course. Now tell me dear Hime, who was that?" Orihime blushed and shyly walked past her best friend opening her drawer and quickly changing into pyjamas.

"You know Tatsuki-chan, it's not nice to tease, and I am pretty tired right now."

"Yea yea I know," Both girls moved to lie down. "but you better tell me tomorrow."

"Okay Tatsuki-chan I will. I promise!" As Orihime lied in her bed and allowed her eyes to close, she began to wonder, exactly 'who was' Kurosaki-kun? She thought hard and tried to remember the events of the night. She remembered his strong, warm voice, and his fierce, burning brown eyes. She remembered his handsome face and how it complimented his cute scowl. She giggled softly at the memory. Finally, she remembered the way he saved her. Kurosaki-kun was like a super hero. He was strong, and incredibly fast and brave. He was like her knight and shining armor. She blushed deeply. What was she thinking? She didn't even know the man. Her imagination was certainly running wild this time. To think, no, rather, to feel so strongly about a man she didn't know. She shook her head. This wasn't a story book, it was her life. Sure, her name meant princess, but she wasn't actually a princess. Orihime sighed deeply and tried to force herself to listen to reason However, she could not reason her way out of feeling that their story was a fairytale.

So that took me a long time. At some point I will write Ichigo's perspective about the whole night, but that may be in a few chapters. Sorry if the tense is off. I know I am not the best writer, but hey I tried. Sorry If the chapter started off slow, or if the story is starting off slow, but I hope you enjoy it. Hope everyone is taking care!


End file.
